


Night Light

by OveliaGirlHaditRight



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: But set off far in the future so there's a good chance most of this will eventually become AU, Canon, Canon Compliant, F/M, Future Fic, Namixas, RokuNami - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-11-09
Packaged: 2020-03-08 06:20:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18888907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OveliaGirlHaditRight/pseuds/OveliaGirlHaditRight
Summary: In a future, where the Master of Masters has already been dealt with by Sora-and Kairi dies once more, making Sora lose it for a while-Roxas and Naminé must now contend with the similar to Roxas, Gula, going bad.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, usually I'm crazy about making sure I edit things a million times before I post them. But I didn't edit this (though I can, if you guys need me to)--because I was desperate to add something to the RokuNami group, in seeing there's nothing here yet. I hope you guys enjoy. And if you want me to turn this into a multi-chapter fic, I will!

Roxas blinked—for what felt like the millionth time—as Naminé tried to tell him why this night light in their room was a good idea.

 

They were still young and innocent, so they weren’t living together in the same room because they were having sex. But because they needed comfort after everything they’d been through.

 

He wanted to ask her why she thought it was safe to do this, when she’d recently whacked her eye on the lava lamp thing and had nearly gone blind in the eye because of it.

 

But then again… if one were to really close themselves off to anything that hurt them, Roxas supposed they’d never grow and live.

 

He’d come into life as a fourteen-year-old, so he had no true basis for this: But he supposed an example of this, was when a kid was burnt by fire when they were young. If they let that affect them forever, they’d never learn to cook, play with sparklers, or anything like that.

 

But Naminé was still afraid of the darkness… And if this gave her some relief from it, Roxas would happily oblige (he would just hold Naminé, and make sure she wouldn’t fall off the bed to smack herself again)… Even if he didn’t like light very much...

 

Naminé grinned, as she pushed the night light into the outlet and it painted the room in pinks:

 

Naminé had been hoping for pinks—to make her think of her sister Kairi—but oddly enough, there had been no night lights in that color that they could find.

 

Nami had then opted that they go for red, because maybe it would be faded and look rose-colored… and she had been right.

 

Sometimes Roxas really thought with Naminé’s powers, that she may be psychic. But with as self-conscious as she still was, after everything she’d done, Roxas dared not bring it up.

 

“There, Roxas. I promise I’m done with the home improvement now. So if you want, we can go meet our friends now.  
  
And so they did:  
  
After Roxas dropped a quick kiss to Naminé’s lips, to let her know that he had no issue with helping her at all.

 

…

 

As always, Roxas met Hayner, Pence, and Olette on the clock tower (and he would have met Lea, Xion, and Isa, if they hadn’t been busy right now): This was their true Usual Spot, after all, and hell or high water Roxas was sure that this was what they’d continue to do.

 

Things were a little different now, though:  
  
Pence and Olette had just gotten married at the young age of eighteen, and Olette was already pregnant: So Olette had to be very careful when she did this now.

 

And Hayner, after he had made it big as a basketball player had—sadly—twisted his ankle and lost his career (so now he ironically painted like Naminé did), so getting up here was also a trip for him:

 

And yet they still did it, because they wanted to make up for every memory they didn’t have from the Digital Twilight Town and more. And how Roxas loved them for it.

 

“So, have you heard from Sora?” Olette asked—as she made sure to hand Naminé the fruity kind of ice cream that she would want (that Olette was now trying because of her), whilst Hayner handed the boys sea salt bars. “It sounds like Gula’s gone evil.”

 

And in hearing this, Roxas almost threw up. He didn’t know Gula very well, but from what he did know of him the man had always reminded Roxas of himself.

 

So, to hear that he was capable of this kind of thing made Roxas begin having doubts about himself, and everything that he thought he knew.

 

…He’d been just a hair’s breadth away from turning evil in the datascape, perhaps, so did this really mean if he’d been given the proper push there, he would have gone on a rampage?

 

Sensing how Roxas felt about this, Naminé squeezed his arm softly as she leaned her head against his shoulder.

 

“You and Gula are very different, Roxas. Don’t worry about it. …If anything, he’s more like when Sora went to the dark side after… after Kairi- than you.”

 

This instantly struck a chord with Roxas… Naminé had been in love with Sora for so long, and she’d idolized him. Roxas was sure she’d still adored him even while they’d first dating… So, to hear Naminé speak of her belief in him now—even over Sora—spoke to Roxas well of Naminé’s feelings for him.

 

Olette looked like she wanted to say something to that—and Roxas had no doubt that she did, since she had tried to woo Sora after Kairi had died—but seemed to think better of it, and stopped herself.

 

“Well,” Hayner began—already trying to be the diplomat,  Roxas could tell by his tone—“as much as it sucks to have someone trying to conquer the world again, or whatever, at least you guys have the foreknowledge about it this time: It’s not like what happened with the Xehanorts, the Master of Masters, or when Sora went insane for a little bit. You should easily be able to go find him and beat him. Right? Or go talk some sense into him.”

 

Hayner wasn’t completely wrong. After their first journeys, Naminé had done recon missions on every world and now knew them like the back of her hand.

 

Furthermore, she’d implanted devices in each and every location that told you what people were there.

 

Given that Gula hadn’t come up with a way to get rid of them—and so far, no one else had—they should be able to find him easily. It was true. But this was only if he didn’t world hop and world hop, which was what he probably was doing.

 

…But it still left a bad taste in Roxas’ mouth, to turn against an ally like this. Yes, Gula had now done it first. But still.

 

Despite the fact that Roxas had only felt a little safe with the night light Naminé had earlier put in their room… With this new knowledge, even that feeling had completely disappeared. 


	2. Chapter 2

The obvious thing Roxas could have done, after finding out that Gula had fallen to darkness, would have been for him to go home, take a look at the picture of his former friend, and brood....and perhaps even lose himself. But Roxas didn't do this.  
  
No.

Instead, he decided to pretend that things were normal by going to the store with Naminé.  
  
His girl had recently wanted to buy a strawberry cake mix? Well, then, Roxas was going to buy it for her! And it was the first thing on his agenda, as it should have been.  
  
And as Roxas pushed Naminé around in the cart—as he now looked for fresh strawberries and some icing of that same flavor—she ended up asking him the question he'd been too afraid to consider himself.  
  
"Gula also has a connection to Sora, Roxas? Do you- do you think this is all happening as punishment for him, in 'getting Kairi back' in such an inhumane way?"  
  
Right... Kairi was really dead. Roxas almost didn't believe that himself (he didn't want his dear friend to be that way), and the only way Sora had her in his life at all, was when he'd found traces of her in the Datascape and put a new her together brought it-her into the real world.  
  
Roxas knew that Xion, Naminé, Vanitas, Xemnas and himself were all exceptions to the normal rules of cloning and Nobodies, so maybe what Sora had done with Kaitwo was different... But he couldn't help feeling this copy of Kairi was exactly that: a copy, and Sora was only fooling himself to think otherwise... and the real Kairi might even be watching on from above in a heartbroken manner.  
  
"After all Sora's been through, I don't think he needs to be punished for nothin', so I genuinely hope you're wrong, Naminé."

“I… know, Roxas,” Naminé said sympathetically, as she reached up and put a hand atop Roxas’ own. “I do, too. I also think he’s suffered enough, and that’s why we’ll try to handle this ourselves… and not get him—them—involved.”

And with that idea planted firmly in their heads, Roxas and Naminé got the rest of their supplies, went up to the cash register and paid, and headed back home.

And once they’d made their cake there—because, hey: Roxas and Naminé were retired. And though they were still okay with helping the world when it needed them, they’d enjoy themselves a little bit first—Naminé opened up the Book of Prophecies and set to work.

“You think that has something to do with it?” Roxas asked, as he popped a maraschino cherry into his mouth:  
  
In the end, they’d gone a little too crazy with all the strawberry stuff and Roxas had realized he needed some cherries in his life to cut through the taste.

“I know it’s a stupid question, Nami… since everything the Foretellers did was tied to the book. But ever since the Master of Masters was defeated, I thought the whole thing had been rendered null and void.”

Unless, of course, there were some secret passages in the tome that most no one knew about. And of course, if any of the copies of the book were to contain something like that, it would be Gula’s: which Naminé fortunately had on hand, because Gula had given it to her in trying to impress her once.

Naminé sent Roxas a look at his question—that seemed to say that ever since she’d become her own person, and therefore not connected to a Princess of Heart’s power, she’d become weaker and couldn’t know much anymore… And that she’d mostly been keeping her nose out of this kind of gossip for years, too, so forgive her if she was a little rusty.

But Roxas couldn’t help it: He was just so used to Naminé having the answer to everything where he was concerned. And it was part of the reason he loved her so much.

And he was about to hug her tense shoulders and to tell her just that, but he was interrupted from it as Xion and Lea quite literally broke into Roxas and Naminé’s home.

Roxas glared at Xion as it happened, since he knew full well she had a key and had only kicked the door in to make an entrance.

Sure, they had magic that could fix this toot sweet… but it didn’t make it any less annoying to Roxas.

“So, I thought you guys would like to be the first to hear that Gula’s gathering up the Princesses of Heart… Which is just wonderful. Though call me crazy… but I don’t think he’s using them to unlock the Final Keyhole or to create the X-Blade. We never get lucky enough to have villains repeat old plans that we’ve already exploited. No, he must be doing something else with them…”

And at her explanation, Roxas felt his anger at Xion cool down some.

Roxas hadn’t expected that Gula could possibly be going this crazy yet… but if it all really was as dire as Xion was saying, time truly was of the essence and they had no time to wait on anything.

“How do you know this, Xion?” Lea was the one to ask, with his hands on his hips. And he kept clenching and unclenching his fingers, so Roxas could only guess he was fighting to remain calm in this situation and to not summon his chakrams or his Keyblade this very second.

A beat passed, as Xion seemed to only stare at the bluish-violet faux-fish tank that Roxas had.

And the former wielder got the sense that Xion was staring at the purple there in particular: The same color as Naminé and Kairi’s eyes.

And it made Roxas think that maybe when Kairi had died, she’d passed her powers onto Xion and this was why his best friend knew what she did: Not because of the surveillance that Naminé had set up in the worlds, but because Xion had a direct connection to the Pure Lights in now being one herself.

But whatever the real answer here was, Xion wasn’t giving it.

She just crossed her arms over her chest self-consciously and barked, “Because I just do, okay?! …And if I’d known I was going to get the third degree, I would have gone with Isa to check on what, if anything, is happening with the moon.”

And that was as much a cry for help as Roxas had ever heard. And thankfully, Naminé seemed to hear it, too:

And so, she ushered Xion over the threshold, sat her down with a blanket around her shoulders, and offered her a piece of cake: something she happily took.

And upon seeing it, Lea was then running to the kitchen to get a piece himself—with the explanation that “an army marches on its stomach”, of course.

“So, what do we do?” Naminé asked the obvious and looked pointedly at Xion as she did so: which seemed to hint to Roxas that she had figured out exactly what he had about her. “Do we try and contact the Princesses and tell them to give their abilities to others, so Gula has to start the search again? It might save the world, for the time being, but-”

But there was no guarantee that Gula wouldn’t kill the Princesses if they attempted to undermine him like that, if he truly had gone over the edge here. And Roxas wasn’t willing to risk it.

At least if Gula was using the Lights’ powers right now, he couldn’t dispose of them until he had them all, and they’d fulfilled their purpose—which would at least give the Guardians of Light some time to work with.

“No,” Lea cut in—surprising Roxas, because since he was still the newest in trying to protect Kingdom Hearts and so Roxas hadn’t entirely been sure he’d been able to yet keep up with all the rules about summoning it. “We try and find Gula. And we all split up and do so. We have a better chance of managing that kind of thing now, than we would have ever before—since some of the worlds went back to being just one after our last fight… And even if Gula is jumping from world to world, what Naminé set up should be able to tell us where he is… We just need to get there before he leaves.”

That certainly sounded like a plan to Roxas: The only one, really.

…But though they were doing it for the best, Roxas had to wonder if it was a misstep to not tell Sora.


	3. Chapter 3

**Naminé’s PoV**

While Naminé was, of course, okay with going on this quest with Roxas to stop Gula… she couldn't help mourning—of all things—the nightlight that she and Roxas would be leaving behind.  
  
And she even tried to explain that to Roxas, when—with her hands clasped together in front of her, as she stared at their room for the last time--she said "I'm just going to miss it, you know? The sense of safety it provides... Granted, we didn't have this place and these decorations for long. But Roxas, it made me feel safe in Twilight Town. And now we're going on a new mission, away from this sanctuary. And if I can only feel okay here just now... how can I experience that in more dangerous worlds?"

Naminé knew that this was pretty craven talk, for someone who had been to all the worlds and set up security there… but that had been before Kairi had died a third time—taking a part of Nami with her—and she could feel the experience.  
  
So that—combined with the fact that evil never seemed to end, and that even any of them could go dark—had Naminé feeling depressed again.

And perhaps in sensing this, Roxas tried to reassure her."Because we'll always come home to it, Nami. In fact, the nightlight will be a beacon leading us here."

Naminé smiled in a slightly forced way here and turned around so that she was in Roxas’ arms.

Hugging him just once, she rested her chin on his shoulder and tried to just breathe for a moment.

And then she disentangled herself from him, picked up her bag, and resolutely went to face this task at hand.

…

Naminé was feeling a lot better, despite everything, when she and Roxas landed on the new world.

She remembered this world well. How could she not? It was home to a sweet, retired elderly lady—with refined taste that Naminé couldn’t even begin to match—with a butler named Edgar, who waited on her so caringly.

Naminé had always admired people much older than herself. For on the few times she had ventured out into the World, despite DiZ’s orders, those were the ones who had treated her best: even with her being Nobody.

And the woman here in particular was very sweet, and had taught Naminé how to do art with paints rather than crayons. 

So, the artist in her alone, wanted to go and meet Madame Adelaide again. But there were other parts of her that of course wanted to as well.

And all of this together made Naminé as giddy as she’d been when she’d realized Roxas truly did love her.

That was why she grabbed Roxas’ hand as soon as he appeared by her side—and jumped up and down as she did so, making him do the same action with her.

“Naminé, what-”

“Oh, Roxas! This is one of my favorite worlds I visited! Let’s go visit the best place in it right now!”

To Roxas’ credit, he was quick to comply. He seemed about to voice the word “okay”, but he was cut off when Naminé began dragging him along.

It was a good thing she had a photographic memory that she’d developed with her witch powers. Because otherwise, she might have tried to open a Corridor of Darkness to teleport to the house.

But instead, she realized they had landed on the world fairly close to where the manor was located. 

So, they just walked a few blocks, keeping up some nice idle banter as they did, and finally they were at one of the places of Naminé’s dreams.

And it became even more that, when Naminé noticed that there were all these cats in front of it! Maybe they had even lived here all along, and she’d had no idea.

Naminé ignored her aching feet, and ran up to the white kitten that was trying to climb a beam with ivory crawling up it.

The white witch couldn’t help admiring her, since the kitty’s siblings—and father?—were all content rolling around in the grass, or trying to climb trees:

So Nami loved the go-getter personality this one had. Maybe a bit selfishly, it reminded her of how she had gone above and beyond the call of duty, in sending Lingering Will to the Guardians’ aid while she’d essentially been dead.

This would have been a happy moment—and Naminé might have thought Kingdom Hearts had sent them to such a wonderful location, to hint that Gula wasn’t really up to too much bad at all—if at that moment, the orange boy cat (that Naminé would later learn was named Toulouse) didn’t come darting to her, to cry that his mother “Duchess” had been kidnapped.

Roxas looked between Naminé and the kitten and then back again, before settling his glance on his hands: Something that spoke similarly to how Sora had reacted upon seeing Roxas leave him for the first time. And Naminé would have appreciated it, if she hadn’t been busy freaking out.

Gula was apparently after the Princesses of Heart again… But the Seven Pure Lights had the ability to pass their powers onto another: Belle, Jasmine, Alice, Cinderella, Aurora, and Snow White were all proof of this.

And what if the new Princesses—such as Elsa, Anna, and Rapunzel—had given up their abilities… but this time they had been given to the animal royalty in the worlds, like perhaps Nala that Naminé had heard about? …Or moreover, Duchess here?

Sora, on a later adventure, had met a villain named Cruella de Vil, and in Naminé’s mind she had been the cruelest person to ever exist. Because attacking humans was one thing, but pure and defenseless animals? It was too much. Especially anthropomorphic ones that seemed to exist in most of the worlds. The Moogles were like that, and Naminé had bonded with them during her time in Castle Oblivion. So, she couldn’t. She just couldn’t!

What if Gula was now standing over this Duchess, and telling her she had served her purpose the way that Ansem had Kairi?

Naminé, just a few hours ago, had been almost against leaving her nightlight… but now she realized she was more than willing to be that for others, if the World would let her.

“It’s okay,” Roxas whispered kindly to Toulouse, seeming close to tears himself. “We’ll find your mom. Naminé in particular really wants to.”

And she would, because madame Adelaide was coming over to her, needing support from Naminé now, too, and she gave it.

She also called Xion on the gummi phone, informing her to leave Kuzco alone and to go check on Nala instead…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If any of this has weird mistakes, I apologize. I’m posting this while being half-asleep (but I wanted to post it now, since I know I’ve left this story for a while).
> 
> Also, just so it’s known… Kairi isn’t dead in this story because I hate her or dislike SoKai or anything like that. The opposites on both counts, really. Kairi’s my favorite character ever and SoKai’s my ultimate OTP… but somehow it just came to me while writing the first chapter of this that Kairi’s dead. And I tried to fight against it… but I sadly couldn’t: this story/plot seemed to demand it, for some reason. And it will be a plot point later, since Sora will be showing up and all. Yeah.


	4. Chapter 4

**Naminé’s PoV**

If Naminé and Roxas had been like Sora on his journeys, they at this point would've promised Xion and Lea they'd meet up with them later and go straight to the Pride Lands to begin work there themselves.  
  
But since they _weren't_ Sora—and for certain reasons were trying to do things the opposite of how he did—they called each other again and decided to meet up in the Other Sky.  
  
Roxas and Naminé waited in their gummi ship, as Lea and Xion tried to find them.   
  
A few times they had to attack some Heartless ships—or move their gummi from falling space debris—but mostly they were fine.  
  
And as Naminé and Roxas counted the minutes until their other friends got to them, Nami found herself running a hand over Roxas' steepled fingers, and then moving up to touch his chest.  
  
And she wondered if this was _the_ moment: Would they come together in their despair, for what they had just witnessed with Duchess’ capture?

“Roxas…” Naminé found herself voicing now… feeling much more nervous than she ever had in her life—and that was saying something—but she knew she needed to get the words out. “I… I love you. And I don’t want to waste any more time, like Sora and Kairi did. So, we should-“

But whatever Naminé thought they should do, was never said: For at that exact instance, Lea, Xion, and Isa teleported into the gummi ship with them and the moment was lost.

Lea was the first to speak, as he took in the monitor that was trying to find the Pride Lands for Roxas and Naminé since they really had no clue where it was.

“I can guide you there, got it memorized?” Lea asked—smiling at two of his best friends here, as he seemed to think the reason for their inaction here was just that they’d been lost without him and not because they’d been trying to mourn the future just with each other.

“…I know you guys have some of Sora’s memories… So, in retrospect, it should be easy for you to try and find the world. But I dunno. Those are still Sora’s memories. Not yours. So, who even knows if you can access them anymore?

“And even aside from your Sora connection… Naminé, I know you’ve been here once yourself. But I also remember your sense of direction…  
  
“ _I_ know how to get to the Pride Lands. It’s one of the few places that Merlin took Kairi and me, so I can get us there.”

And any nice things they all could have said to each other after this, disappeared the moment that Kairi was mentioned:

So Naminé, Roxas, Xion, and Isa just nodded and allowed Lea to take the helm.

And silently, they reached their destination.

…

When Naminé actually set down on this planet, that turned humans into animals… it actually dispelled some of the myths she’d felt about this place. (And maybe it had the first time she had been here too, but she just didn’t remember it had until now or had been into much of a rush to care about it back then.)

For instance… since she and Roxas were now quite a bit older than how Sora had been when he first became a wild cat, Naminé had been certain that she and Roxas would be full-fledged lions as opposed to cubs.

But no dice.

Furthermore, Naminé had heard somewhere that lionesses were attracted to the mane that their mate had…

And maybe it was different for them, because they were just cubs… But while Roxas was for sure her mate in all things, Naminé certainly didn’t feel anything for his mane at all.

And actually… while she’d just been thinking that it was maybe time for them to finally consummate their relationship—while they actually had the chance, in both still being alive and clearly in love—she found that if Roxas got too close to her in this form, she might drop kick him.

But other than that, this world was pretty cool.

Naminé was getting a kick out of running as fast as she could now, and making quick and skilled stops right before she was about to crash into something.

Kairi… had always been better in physical things than Naminé had ever been, but she didn’t think even Kairi had ever been this good… Not even when she’d apparently trained here with Lea:

In having been so nervous about preparing for the Keyblade War at the time, Naminé thought her obsession with being capable might have actually wounded her strides some.

…And now Kairi would never get the chance to come here and try again.

At once, Naminé felt depressed with these thoughts… and completely ruined whatever temporary fun she’d been having.

She just missed her sister so much…

And she darkly wondered if Sora—in his insanity—would ever bring that poor imitation of Kairi to this location.

But she shouldn’t think about that… She should be thinking about more positive things, like whatever Gula was planning to do to Nala.

…Yeah, right.

“Hey, Naminé? You see that treasure chest over there? I think it’s actually made of fruit… And after we get whatever’s inside of it, we should maybe try eating said fruit? Because who knows when we’ll get the chance to eat anything else that seems appetizing here,” Roxas chirped right beside Naminé’s ear, being as helpful as ever. Gosh, she loved him so much.

“…That the lady won’t protest to, you mean,” Isa—who was some sort of pig, oddly enough—added this to Roxas’ comment make Naminé laugh, she thought. And she greatly appreciated his effort, because she needed that right now.

...Though it also didn't escape Naminé's attention, that Isa was a lesser animal than she was. So maybe he was also saying this, so she and Roxas would fill themselves up and wouldn't feel tempted to eat him. But she still thought it was mostly the former.  
  
Xion—who seemed to be some sort of bird—flew over to where the three of them were right now: a place that seemed to have bones within the earth, and asked both of the million dollar questions.  
  
"Guys… where’s Lea? And, Roxas, Naminé... is it me? Or does it seem like much more time has passed here than it should have? Look, I'm no expert... And it's not like I've painstakingly been counting the seasons that should be passing here since Sora left this place. But this darkness doesn't... feel right to me. I don’t think it should even be Fall yet. And so much of this area looks like it's been overeaten: moreso than it would have been, if Sora had just been a way a little bit."  
  
Naminé frowned—having her own theories about this, because she thought she’d been picking weird stuff out on the monitors she’d installed here—but before she could put word to said theories, Roxas was already reading her mind:  
  
"Time moves differently on the various worlds. You know this, Xion. _That_ could be it. Animals also grow up faster than humans here. Maybe everyone here just reproduced _fast_ , and they ran out of food for that reason.

“As for the darkness... could it be because the Princess of Heart has already been taken from this world?"

"Well, let's go see… and look for Lea while we’re at it,” Naminé whispered, not liking this foreboding feeling she was having any more than the others were.

But knowing that they must push past it and try, all the same:  
  
If not just for Lea and Nala... for the _other_ one, that Naminé was maybe getting a sense of now.  
  
...

 **Olette’s PoV**  
  
Olette walked towards the bistro in Twilight Town, wondering if she'd done the right thing in adopting this random white cat she’d just found:  
  
She'd just happened upon the poor dear—who had looked like she'd been dropped off in a haste—and her heart had instantly gone out to her:  
  
Olette knew what abandonment felt like: the doctor was now telling her that her baby had such a faint heartbeat, that it would be hard to bring her to term and stay healthy herself. And that maybe she should just give up…  
  
But Olette refused.  
  
Dangerous or not, she was going to have her and Pence’s daughter.

And she was going to adore this kitty who had brought a pregnant lady joy, whether she was now having a Keyblade pointed in her face for doing so or not.


	5. Chapter 5

**Olette’s PoV**  
  
Olette, back in the day, would have been happy to see Sora—and hey, if he was going to save her   
and her baby's life now, she supposed she still was somewhat—but that had been before he had lost it, and dishonored her friend's memory by bringing about a Data version of Kairi when the real one had died.   
  
...Speaking of which, the Data version of Kairi was beside Sora _now_ —which made Olette want to scream—but it wasn't that she was some hideous thing, or completely different from Kairi... she just didn't have her heart (or fire, for that matter. Olette didn't know Kairi as well as some of their other friends had, but she got the sense that this clone). And they were all just insulted that Sora had even thought to do this.  
  
"Leave her and the cat alone, Gula!" Sora growled, throwing a Dark Firaga spell Gula's way: which sadly said a lot about how far Sora had fallen. Olette knew a little bit about magic now...  
  
Gula dodged the Dark Firaga easily enough, extending a barrier out in front of himself for a moment. But Data Kairi got him, as she did a somersault into the air and stabbed Gula into the feet so that he was hefted into the air.  
  
…When Sora had first gone insane after the real Kairi’s death, he—via the Journal somehow—had shown everyone that Kairi had done throughout all the journeys, as this had been the only way he could make it to the next day. So from that experience, Olette knew what Data Kairi had just done, was a move the Princess had used during the Keyblade War... But it also seemed a bit stronger than what Kairi had done. And in remembering what she'd heard about Xion's existence, Olette wondered if Sora had put some of his own skills into Data Kairi, so that that girl was actually moreso a “Xion”.  
  
"I see you've made Kairi a better fighter than she ever was!" Gula hissed, seeming to believe exactly what Olette had. "So this fake Kairi is more _you_ than the girl you claimed to love. God, Even as much as I miss Ava, I never would have thought to dishonor her memory in this way.” And Olette hadn’t gone numb a long time ago, from her heartbreak at Kairi’s death, and then the confusing feelings she got for Sora, and the truth she had found with Pence… she would have been looking at Sora accusingly here.  
  
"Sora... what is she talking about?" Data Kairi asked now. And this _was_ such, that Olette’s heart broke. It was just too bad that this poor, broken toy had no idea that even she could never truly have Sora’s heart.  
  
But still feeling the need to somewhat try and defend Sora since he'd just saved her, Olette piped up—wondering why she was drawing attention to herself and this cat she was apparently trying to protect--"It may just be because this Kairi's made of one and zeroes, that she's gotten better at combat. Aren't computers better than _all_ of us?"  
  
"Fair point... Olette? But I don't care about any of this, and don't have time for it. So gimme the cat!" Gula teleported to where Olette was standing and tried to scratch her face—with gloves he had adorned with claws—but Olette saw this coming and was able to dodge it.  
  
Not only that, but Olette ripped the offending glove off and scratched _Gula’s_ face with it. Which was good, because he'd also cloned himself and had gone after Sora that way. But the pain Olette had just given the _real_ Gula, stopped his magic and his attempt at Sora’s life.  
  
And with his sharp eyes, Sora had seen just what had happened—he looked in Olette’s direction, seeming a bit starry-eyed because of Data Kairi?—and mouthed, "Thanks, Olette!" …She only wished that she was as thankful for his own choices.  
  
It was then that Olette got an idea that she _knew_ she'd later regret. Seeing another kitty cat walking around just now—that looked a lot like the one Gula was after—Olette let the targeted one down, and picked up cat number two (Gula was too distracted by Data Kairi doing a Magic Sword on his torso to notice) and handed it to him. Olette tried her best to act like she was just a scared mother-to-be, who wanted this all to be over with already. And Gula must have bought it, because he then left without a word.  
  
Once he was gone, Sora whirled on Olette and nearly screamed at her. It hurt Olette’s ears. "Do you realize what you just did?! You probably saved the world for a moment there, Olette, but when Gula realizes that isn't the cat he's after he'll probably killed it."  
  
"I-I know." Olette choked out, as her baby kicked in her stomach with a vengeance. So presumably, she didn't like her mommy's choice, either. "But sometimes hard choices must be made… I get that now."  
  
 **Roxas’ PoV**  
  
There was a part of Roxas that was attracted to this "Nala" girl. What could he say? He was a guy in lion form, so of course he was feeling this way he… guessed... But he felt bad about it, like he was trying to make her a cougar in his mind, since he knew Nala had been a fully-grown lion when _Sora_ had met her. That meant she was even _older_ now... and married. And when Roxas found out that this actually wasn't Nala at all—but rather her daughter, Kiara, apparently?—he wanted the earth to open up and swallow him.  
  
"Kiara's heart is shining," Naminé whispered in Roxas' ear, just as they (and Xion and Isa) were being properly introduced to her by Timon and Pumba on Pride Rock. "It reminds me what our hearts have looked like, ever since we fell in love."   
  
And with that shine, Roxas knew what Naminé was trying to say here: that they’d found the Princess of Heart of this world. And Roxas smiled at this news and tried to run a paw through Naminé’s hair—err, fur—affectionately. This quest hadn’t been _too_ hard. Now they just had to get her to Master Yen Sid's, and they could go find Axel and call it a day.  
  
"But there's also... conflict in her heart, the way there was with Elsa when Sora first met her. She needs to figure out what person she's going to be. Until then, she may be a Princess of Heart and she may not be... We’ll have to wait and see, so we can't take her with us yet."  
  
As wrong as it was… there was now a furious part of Roxas that wanted to burn down the world at this (the part of him that was worried about Axel, and just wanted to be looking for him now). _Why_ did they have to get involved in a threat to the Princesses of Heart once again? Hadn’t this cost them enough in the past?  
  
And his emotional turmoil must have been showing on his face, because Naminé swiftly indicated by a gesture of her head that Roxas should just go and separate himself from everyone until he got a handle on his feelings. So he did just that.   
  
The youth had planned to go and lay down beneath the stars—in some picturesque oasis, the way that Simba apparently once had—but before Roxas could get there, he found himself nearly getting trampled by elephants: something that was one of Roxas’ worst nightmares come to life, really. He’d watched some documentary in Twilight Town about a guy getting killed by them, when the elephants had thought he was a danger to their offspring. Ever since then, Roxas had been somewhat afraid of the creatures—and he wasn’t afraid of _anything_ —in fearing whatever happened to Naminé, if he was ever trampled by them and couldn’t return to her.  
  
Roxas quickly dodged the elephants’ feet by moving this way and that—feeling like he was playing some intense version of DDR —but he could tell that the smart creatures didn’t really want to hurt him. They instead were singing about someone else who had betrayed them? Or someone who had once betrayed another? And if they were so up-in-arms about betrayal, it was clear that they wouldn’t consciously harm anyone themselves, then. But Roxas still couldn’t help but worry… If not for himself anymore, but for this person they, the antelopes, lions, and whoever else, were now ostracizing.  
  
In front of Roxas’ line of sight, he saw a young lion (though one who was still older than himself) moving further and further away from everyone else—as if they were making a barrier to shut him out, but Roxas knew that they weren’t. So, either all these animals were being _that_ intimidating—and Roxas definitely thought they might have been—or the mammal was being _that_ self-conscious.  
  
There was something about this imagery here, that reminded Roxas of when he’d used his light diamond attack on Sora over and over again: trying to push out his Other away as much as humanly possible. Because there was _no_ way Sora could ever understand him, right? …Except that months later, Roxas had learned that that wasn’t the truth at all. Roxas didn’t know what the situation here was… but he couldn’t help thinking that maybe it could be the same, if they gave the outsider the same chance that he himself had eventually given Sora… the chance Roxas was still giving his lost brother to this day.  
  
And seeing in his peripheral vision that Naminé, Xion, and Isa were somewhere involved in this whole mess, Roxas began dashing back their way faster than he had ever moved in his life. The elephants might not have wanted to injure anyone, but Roxas wasn’t so sure about the yellow lion with the red mane in the center of all of this… he looked as though being mad might actually make him _mad_. So Roxas needed to be back at Pride Rock to protect his girls and surrogate father.  
  
…It was then that Roxas decided to do something he hadn’t attempted in ages, for the risk of losing his new heart that way: Roxas summoned a Corridor of Darkness and went through it so he was at Naminé and Xion’s side near instantaneously.   
  
“What’s happening?!” he called out desperately, though Roxas also tried to keep his voice down so he wouldn’t upset this red lion even more. So showing urgency, on top of being cautious, was a hard knife edge to balance on… but Roxas did just that.  
  
Naminé only smiled at Roxas sadly, as she put a paw over her heart… And given what Naminé had said about this Kiara’s heart being in love before, he thought he got what she was saying and his breath hitched in his throat… Had Kiara been separated from her love, the way Sora and Kairi always had been?  
  
“I guess… there’s some separation things with the lions going on,” Xion explained, as she flew by Roxas’ ear and then landed on his shoulder. And it was so good to have her by his side again—and just to know that she was safe—that Roxas nuzzled his head against hers and breathed as Xion did: both desperate to calm their racing breathing. “The two sets of lions are enemies, Roxas, and Kiara is in love with one on the other side of her. Simba—and yes, this red lion is the Simba Sora once told us about—gave the ‘other’ a chance. But I guess he and his friends tried to kill Simba, so now he’s banished. That’s about the gist of it.”  
  
Roxas had quite a lot to say about this—how his and Naminé’s love had been somewhat forbidden and they were _perfect_ together, so perhaps Simba really ought to give his daughter’s interests a chance—but before he could, Simba was trotting their way in having heard Sora’s name. “Sora?!” he asked, so hopefully that it made Roxas sad for two reasons. “You know Sora? Are you his friends? I could sure use his help no-”  
  
“Yes, we are Sora’s friends. Roxas and Xion—and even somewhat Naminé here—were once a part of him… it’s hard to explain, though I suppose you could think of how you believe your past kings are always with you. I’m sure we could all aid you, if you really want us to… but if you’re looking for Sora himself,  I’m afraid to say that he’s gone crazy since the loss of his mate.”  
  
It was Isa who had filled everything in that way, of course. And while Roxas supposed it was necessary and was glad he didn’t have to do the heavy himself… he had to wonder if it was really called for, to ruin Sora in the minds of his former friends.  
  
But the idea of Sora wasn’t the only thing that was ruined here: Isa must have opted for the wrong word choice, in saying Sora and Kairi were “mates”, because Simba’s mouth worked into a firm line. And before any of the four could argue with him, or hint what they were trying to do here at all, Simba was already guessing their intentions pretty easily. “…You’re going to tell me Kiara is a Princess of Heart or something, aren’t you?! And that she has to be with her ‘mate’ Kovu to keep her light? Well, tough! I’m not letting her near him for her own safety, even if it means I have to keep this world torn in two forever!”  
  
And while Roxas wanted to believe that Simba didn’t mean that literally… he thought that he did. The darkness had gotten to him, it seemed, and he was playing right into Gula’s hands.


	6. Chapter 6

**Lea’s PoV**  
  
Lea... was in a strange place. And that was really him putting it mildly. How he'd even gotten here, he didn't know—since he was supposed to have been with Roxas, Xion, Isa, and Naminé—but it didn't look like any of them were around. But he was within what appeared to be some large, log rollercoaster with a wildcat beside him as they sailed along.  
  
And if it wasn’t bad enough that he was trapped with a jungle beast right now… but there was something about him, that made him seem… somehow sharper looking than any animal Lea had ever met before, and it reminded him of how Sora had always described the Caribbean—or even The Grid—to be.  
  
"...Okay," Lea muttered uncertainly, as he reached a hand out to try and pet the kitty's fur despite himself—trying to make a good first impression—but only for the cat to play bite him.  
  
And Lea could tell that it _was_ a play bite—because if this guy had really wanted to hurt him, he would've—but any form of biting at all wasn’t good.   
  
Lea figured that this Prince of Heart—because of _course_ he thought that was what this animal was, and why he was here—was stuck between being tame and going feral, and Lea didn't want to play games if he was about to lose his cool.  
  
So Lea just opted to stay in the “roller coaster” with the cat until he decided to get out… which fortunately, didn’t take much longer. About a half-an-hour later, Lea would say, the critter leaped out of the air (and Lea barely had the chance to create a Corridor of Darkness to follow him) and was running through a doggy door that looked like it was made for him.  
  
Lea followed the cat into this building—realizing right away that it was some sort of restaurant, and that the animal somehow seemed right at home here—when the two of them ended up getting stuck in the freezer!  
  
…It was really embarrassing that it had happened at all—and how glad Lea was, that none of his friends were here to witness his fall—but one moment, the kitten was going to check on some meat (and Lea was following him to see if he’d run into anyone of this world who could tell him if this was a Prince of Heart or not)… And the next thing Lea knew, these kids had run by the freezer without seeing them there, and had run into the door and accidentally locked both Lea and his new best friend away.  
  
Near instantly, this cat was _upset_ —with his ears down and tail both down, as he growled for the situation and began trying to scratch anything and everything to find a way out of the room—and Lea could hardly blame him, as he was starting to freeze _himself_ …   
  
He knew that he had fire magic that he could use to help out with the situation of course… but at the same time, Lea didn’t want to risk that spooking his new friend even more, either… and the whole idea of “spooking” was the same reason that he wasn’t putting the big guy through a Corridor of Darkness to try and escape that way.  
  
So, Lea did the smart thing that anyone in this situation would do… he began pounding on the door as loudly as he could—though still trying to keep some air of calm about him, so the big cat wouldn’t think he was a threat—as he hollered for anyone who might hear him, “Hey, café workers! You locked a would-be customer in here with your jungle cat! Now how about getting us out of here? Help!”  
  
And Lea kept on like that for a while—and it seemed to Lea like the cat actually seemed to be admiring him for his truth and no-nonsense attitude… or maybe the cold in here really _was_ just getting to him—before finally, he and the cat (who had still been clawing at things) got _someone’s_ attention and they flung the door open.  
  
And the cat, in being excited to finally tear out of his prison, bolted out the door and unintentionally somewhat scratched the man who had just let him out.   
  
“Oww, Jess!” the man complained, as both he and Lea watched the cat go. “Was that Charlie? It looks like he’s gone full-on wild. Someone stop that cat!”  
  
And despite the fact that Lea himself had earlier been worrying about this “Charlie” going feral, he couldn’t help feeling that this line of thinking was unfair on the other guy’s part now. And he told the man as much, as he, said man, and this Jess figure chased after their friend. “I don’t think he went wild! I think he was spooked from having been locked in a freezer. Hell, I was too!”  
  
But it was no use. Charlie had wandered into a construction zone, but that just scared him even more… And all the people who saw him running their way—in trying to get away from this massive unknown—assumed he was opting to attack them, so soon it became a mob chasing the poor thing (that Lea was warning them against the whole time—saying that this was a Prince of Heart, and that they had _no_ idea what making him choose the darkness would do to the fate of the world. But no one would listen to him).  
  
And finally, Charlie had fallen into an elevator shaft that the men were making—and they were about to shoot the guy!—and it was at this time that Lea jumped in with Charlie, having had enough.  
  
Reaching out to his animal companion once more—but this time feeling as though they’d bonded a little bit—Lea scratched him behind his ears and said, “I don’t blame you for being afraid of the freezer, Charlie. I was the same. Here: do you want me to do some fire magic so I can show you that if you stay with me, you’ll never have to worry about the cold again?”   
  
And Lea _did_ show him exactly that—though making sure to just summon some steam to his hands, rather than flames—and it was exactly when Charlie seemed appeased by this, that Jess jumped down and calmed—what appeared to be— _his_ cat even more, and got a collar and leash on him so that they could get him back up into the crowd of people above them without them being worried about what Charlie may do.  
  
Lea rode the makeshift elevator up with Charlie and Jess… climbed out of the building that was being built alongside the two… and then finally, when they were walking back towards the diner, Lea asked Jess the million-munny question he’d been contemplating this whole time. “I gotta ask… do you know anything about the Princesses—or Princes, in this case—of Heart? And do you know if Charlie’s one?”  
  
…And it was plain to see on Jess’ face, that he had _no_ idea what Lea was talking about… but he seemed willing to play along with him, since he’d just helped him save his cat from having to be murdered. He smiled at Lea, as he told him all about Charlie. “I’d say that Charlie’s our little prince and heart of the Cascade Mountains, yeah! Especially where food is concerned... But if you’re looking for a princess cougar… why don’t you go along with me to where I plan to drop Charlie off at?   
  
“As a father, it’s hard to admit this… but I think my kitten’s become a cat and it’s time to finally let him go. There’s this place in the wild nearby that I think will be great for Charlie, and that might have some female cougars there.”  
  
So Lea got in the car—err… was that what they were called? Lea still wasn’t entirely sure—with this Jess and his fiancée, and kept up a nice conversation with them the whole time: trying to make it not seem like he was going to kidnap Charlie, and whatever mate Charlie was going to choose for himself, the moment that Jess was away… when in all actuality, that was _exactly_ what Lea was going to do.  
  
And it was when Lea was around the two cats in their new homeland (for, yes: Charlie had started playing with a female cougar right away, that Lea wondered was the real Princess of Heart here), that he heard the voice of the Master of Masters in his head and snarled at it. That menace was supposed to be dead!  
  
“Aren’t you, like, so glad that I sent you away from your friends, and gave you the easy job here, Lea? Now: bring these cats with you and come to me. Because if you want to stop Gula’s horrific plan, we need to act now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this is just a Lea chapter, but I needed to get it done. I swear everyone else will be back next chapter.
> 
> And this is the Disney movie “Charlie and the Lonesome Cougar”, for those who don’t know. It means a lot to me, because I just lost my dad to cancer and this was a movie we both loved and bonded over.
> 
> This chapter is dedicated to you, Dad. I love you and miss you. But I know I’ll see you again.


End file.
